Tag: BREAKTHROUGH

By incorporating boron carbide, the third hardest material on Earth, into cotton t-shirts, scientists may have discovered a new way to create tough, durable and flexible body armor that would change the way soldiers protect themselves on the battlefield. According to Popular Science, the research team, composed of scientists from the U.S., China and Switzerland, soaked some cotton t-shirts in a ...

A team of Japanese researchers have created a machine that could restore muscle memory in people who are partially paralyzed, possibly heping them to walk again. According to IEEE Spectrum, the group from the University of Tsukuba will present the details of their research at the 2010 Haptics Symposium this week in Massachusetts. Dubbed the GaitMaster 5, the physical therapy machine is similar ...

For just a second, imagine losing the very tool you use to make your livelihood. That sinking feeling in your gut is exactly how Maria Antonia Iglesias, a Spanish concert pianist, felt when she lost all of her fingers in 2003 after developing a health problem. But thanks to a medical and technological breakthrough, there's a light at the end of the tunnel for her -- and possibly others, too. ...

Want greener energy without having to install large, gaudy solar panels on your house? Join the club. But what was once wishful thinking might soon be reality. According to ABC Science, scientists have created a way to harness sunlight and convert it into electricity by connecting a photovoltaic cell to fiber-optic wiring that's barely wider than a human hair. (Note that it doesn't actually use ...

The science journal Nature reports that some enterprising French scientists have come up with a revolutionary new rubber that 'heals' itself when broken. According to the Nature article, the science behind it is fairly simple: "In striking contrast to conventional cross-linked or thermoreversible rubbers made of macromolecules, these systems, when broken or cut, can be simply repaired by ...